DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Tampa Bay Rays baseball player Wander Franco was convicted in June 2025 of sexually abusing a minor in the Dominican Republic and then received a two-year suspended sentence. His lawyers were able to get a court of appeals to order a retrial and thus a new panel of judges will now oversee Franco’s case, as reported in Yahoo Sports.

“The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions … many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,” Franco’s attorney, Teodosio Jáquez, told the Associated Press.

Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in June. He was accused of having a four-month relationship with a 14-year-old girl and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence for the illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl, which allows him to remain...